Olfactory memory refers to the recollection of odors. Studies have found various characteristics of common memories of odor memory including persistence and high resistance to interference.

Is olfactory memory rare?

Notably, odor-evoked memories have been shown to be more rare, less frequently thought about [10,11,12], and from an earlier time in life, specifically clustered in the first decade [10,12,13] compared with memories evoked by verbal or visual stimuli.

What is it called when you smell something and it triggers a memory?

Decades later, researchers hypothesized that the exceptional ability that smells have to trigger memories — known as “the Proust effect” — is due to how close the olfactory processing system is to the memory hub in the brain.